Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar marked Fa­ther’s Day with a call for shared re­spon­si­bil­i­ty in par­ent­ing and recog­ni­tion of the deep emo­tion­al role fa­thers play in shap­ing both fam­i­lies and the na­tion.

In her first Fa­ther’s Day mes­sage since be­ing re-elect­ed, Per­sad-Bisses­sar de­scribed fa­ther­hood as “one of life’s most sa­cred re­spon­si­bil­i­ties,” not­ing that it should not be de­fined sole­ly by bi­ol­o­gy, but by “pres­ence, sac­ri­fice, lead­er­ship, and love.”

“A fa­ther’s in­flu­ence in a child’s life is im­mea­sur­able,” she said. “It lays the foun­da­tion for emo­tion­al strength, self-worth, and dis­ci­pline—and by ex­ten­sion, for build­ing strong, re­spect­ful, and pro­duc­tive cit­i­zens.”

The Prime Min­is­ter said the na­tion it­self is shaped by the qual­i­ty of its homes, adding, “When fa­thers lead with love, pa­tience, and wis­dom, they nur­ture more than their fam­i­lies—they con­tribute to the moral and so­cial fab­ric of our en­tire so­ci­ety.”

She called on both men and women to share the bur­den and priv­i­lege of par­ent­ing.

“Moth­ers and fa­thers, though unique in their roles, must walk side by side with mu­tu­al re­spect and shared re­spon­si­bil­i­ty,” she said. “For our fa­thers to suc­ceed, they must feel the en­cour­age­ment, trust, and part­ner­ship of the women in their lives—and in turn, fa­thers must up­lift, ho­n­our, and re­spect the strength, sac­ri­fices, and voic­es of women.”

Per­sad-Bisses­sar said such uni­ty in the home cre­ates stronger com­mu­ni­ties and a health­i­er na­tion, ground­ed in “co­op­er­a­tion and shared love.”

She al­so un­der­scored the im­por­tance of emo­tion­al avail­abil­i­ty, urg­ing fa­thers to cre­ate safe and open en­vi­ron­ments for their chil­dren.

“A child must feel safe—emo­tion­al­ly and men­tal­ly—to speak with their fa­ther, to share their dreams, their fears, and even their mis­takes with­out judg­ment,” she said. “In those qui­et con­ver­sa­tions—at the din­ner ta­ble, in the car, or be­fore bed—life­long bonds are built, val­ues are passed on, and the emo­tion­al well-be­ing of our young peo­ple is strength­ened.”

Per­sad-Bisses­sar thanked fa­thers who “have an­swered the call with in­tegri­ty, love, and per­se­ver­ance,” and of­fered en­cour­age­ment to those still grow­ing in­to the role.

“To the men who are still find­ing their way, know that your pres­ence mat­ters more than you may ever re­alise,” she said. “And to the women who up­lift and stand be­side fa­thers—thank you for be­ing es­sen­tial to this jour­ney.”

She called for uni­ty: “Let us all work to­geth­er to build a so­ci­ety where every fa­ther is em­pow­ered, every moth­er is re­spect­ed, and every child is nur­tured.”